Legends Of The Gods
by E. A. Wallis Budge | 1912 | 61,462 words
Contains legends of Egyptian Gods, the death of Horus and the history of Isis and Osiris. The Egyptian texts, whether the originals be written in hieroglyphic or hieratic characters, are here printed in hieroglyphic type, and are arranged with English translations, page for page....
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Sections XXXIII and XXXIV
[§§ XXXIII., XXXIV. Some of the more philosophical priests assert that Osiris does not symbolize the Nile only, nor Typhon the sea only, but that Osiris represents the principle and power of moisture in general, and that Typhon represents everything which is scorching, burning, and fiery, and whatever destroys moisture. Osiris they believe to have been of a black [1] colour, because water gives a black tinge to everything with which it is mixed.
The Mnevis Bull [2] kept at Heliopolis is, like Osiris, black in colour,
"and even Egypt [3] itself, by reason of the extreme blackness of the soil, is called by them 'Chemia,' the very name which is given to the black part or pupil of the eye. [4] It is, moreover, represented by them under the figure of a human heart."
The Sun and Moon are not represented as being drawn about in chariots, but as sailing round the world in ships, which shows that they owe their motion, support, and nourishment to the power of humidity. [5]
Homer and Thales both learned from Egypt that
"water was the first principle of all things, and the cause of generation." [6]]
Footnotes and references:
[1]:
Experiments recently conducted by Lord Rayleigh indicate that the true colour of water is blue.
[2]:
In Egyptian, Nem-ur, or Men-ur, and he was "called the life of Ra."
[3]:
The commonest name of Egypt is KEMT, "black land," as opposed to the reddish-yellow sandy deserts on each side of the "valley of black mud." The word for "black" is kam.
[4]:
Plutarch seems to have erred here. The early texts call the pupil of the eye "the child in the eye," as did the Semitic peoples (see my Liturgy of Funerary Offerings, p. 136). The Copts spoke of the "black of the eye," derived from the hieroglyphic "darkness," "blackness."
[5]:
There is no support for this view in the texts.
[6]:
It was a very common belief in Egypt that all things arose from the great celestial ocean called Nu, whence came the Nile.
Other Egypt Concepts:
Discover the significance of concepts within the article: ‘Sections XXXIII and XXXIV’. Further sources in the context of Egypt might help you critically compare this page with similair documents:
Egypt, Heliopolis, Osiris, Water, Sea, Nile, Ship, Burning, Sun and moon, First Principle, Black colour, Human heart, Moisture, Black color, Pupil of the eye, Homer, Humidity, Typhon, Thale, Mnevis bull.